Jobbik Vies For Russia’s Support For Autonomy In Transcarpathia

(MTI) – Hungary’s radical nationalist Jobbik party has held talks in Russia in hope of securing support for Hungarian-Ruthenian autonomy in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja), the party’s leader Gábor Vona told a press conference on Wednesday.

Vona said ethnic cleansing was taking place in eastern Ukraine and the same could happen in Transcarpathia, which has a Hungarian community.

Vona held talks in Moscow on Wednesday, accompanied by Marton Gyongyos, deputy head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and MEP Béla Kovács, to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and Hungarian-Russian relations with local politicians.

Gyöngyösi said not Russia but the West was the aggressive party in Ukraine and that the referendum in Crimea had been examplary and it had “raised a glimmer of hope of autonomy for Hungarians and Ruthenians as well”.

Vona said Jobbik was one of the few European political powers that encouraged “the best possible relations with Russia”. He welcomed the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union and said there was a need to create an offset to euro-atlantism.

The three politicians met Alexei Zhuravlev, head of the Rodina (Motherland) party, on Tuesday and are scheduled to meet the head of the Duma’s energy committee and that of its Russian-Hungarian friendship chapter.